


Timing

by KwestShunMark (XCLayMacionPoint)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Heartache, M/M, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Sad Ending, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 11:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18799036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XCLayMacionPoint/pseuds/KwestShunMark
Summary: "From the first time his throat burned to him now lying across a surgical bed being prepped for anesthesia was a mere three weeks."May 2019 Prompt for Armada: Hanahaki Disease





	Timing

The upward sloping, faded tent ceiling was so mundane to Kakuzu's narrowed eyes that it matched the brutal emptiness that swelled within his chest. 

"We're going to put you under now."

With expansions and implosions, he swallowed down the thick emotions gurgling up his esophagus, likely carrying with it another blood-soaked red spider lily. 

"Hurry up already."

His short, gruff words always forced away snippets of fantasy, of hope, of unrealized, and impossible futures. Hardened then whittled by time, he was not one for entertaining such things.

The procedure significantly dipped into his accumulated funds, and he had half a mind to demand Hidan pay him back for forcing this upon him, but the humiliation of admitting what the procedure was for was enough to keep it a secret.

From the first time his throat burned to him now lying across a surgical bed being prepped for anesthesia was a mere three weeks. 

**X**

Denial was first.

Hidan's cloak slipped down his shoulder revealing muscular, pale skin. His scrunched face and knitted brows accentuated the pout on his thin, light pink lips. Each slight twitch in his facial muscles signaled an attempt to maintain his anger, but in the next moment, he was throwing his head back and cackling at his partner's expense. 

"Kakuzu-chan, you need to chill." he waved a hand when he spun to continue their journey. "I'm just fucking with you."

Kakuzu released a grunt of annoyance and prepared to take a step, but the vibrations of the sound lingered. The sudden need to cough arose in him, and he let it come, expecting a single burst and the sensation would end, but not holding it in was a mistake. His chest shook with the instant force and he formed a mucousy gag-like sound. The rattles pushed him to a tree, to pressing his palm against the trunk, to pulling down his mask and bending over. Lurching upward with each hack was a glob of some sort. It tore through him, finding its way into his throat and with a final hoarse exhale a clump of red spurted from his open mouth. It landed atop the fresh green grass below him.

"The fuck you been eating man?"

Drenched in a viscous matter was a grouping of long, thin petals as red as the bloody mess sticking them together. 

"What the hell did you cough up?"

"Nothing, get away." he swiped a heavy arm at the nearing Hidan.

"Shit, well excuse me."

Anger was second.

One week later he and his partner were resting by a riverbank, awaiting news of their next assignment from Pein. The sun finished rising overhead, leaving both men heated and uncomfortable in their cumbersome, black shrouds. They both shed them and seated themselves a significant distance apart next to the clear water stream running in front of them. Multiple times Hidan attempted to initiate a conversation, all of which failed against the grumpy man glaring into the trees.

With a huff, Hidan threw his body sideways, landing onto his shoulder, then flopped onto his back with arms spread out. The tips of his fingers broke the solid-looking surface of the water. He grumbled about Kakuzu being a poor-sport and a miserable grump, then flicked his fingers causing a little splash. 

Kakuzu focused forward, but natural curiosity forced his gaze to drift to the man laying spread eagle beside him. Traveling slowly as though his eyes were a rising camera, his eyes drifted from Hidan's sandaled feet, up along the loose pant legs. They fixated briefly on a hill perked upward from the place where both of Hidan's legs met, but with denial still prodding his back, Kakuzu jerked his line of sight higher only to be beset with greater frustration.

Hidan's skin was white under the sunlight, and each miniscule shift of his torso revealed more detail. Too smooth, too soft looking, Kakuzu let his gaze linger on the large body lounging in the sun. 

Just a minute to deep into his thoughts, he lost his focus, and he allowed his mind to wander. Kakuzu imagined Hidan rocking forward to crawl towards him, to tug at Kakuzu's own loose pants, to wrap that loud mouth around his hardened tip, but when Hidan sat up, Kakuzu snapped his eyes away. 

Then it came. Harsher and thicker than before bucking up his body and thrusting him forward to expel whatever it was. 

"Again?" Hidan asked as Kakuzu clamored to his feet. "You need to see a medic nin, man."

He followed Kakuzu to the very cusp of the riverbank.

"Do you know much of a pain in my ass it would be if you keeled over?"

With louder coughs and greater urging, Kakuzu managed to vomit a large clump of gloopy red into the running water. The blood bloomed outwards like a cloud only to be carried down down the stream until it was out of sight. Kakuzu turned to Hidan again, this time meeting a pair of genuinely concerned lavender eyes and immediately he feared he was going to vomit another set of petals. 

"We'll go in the next village."

Hidan's triumphant snort and smirk made Kakuzu face away. He cursed him under his breath.

**X**

Two weeks later there he was shirtless laying on top of a surgical bed, waiting to be anesthetized by the doctor. Hidan was somewhere outside, left in the dark about the details of the procedure, but convinced it was something minor. So nonchalant and unconcerned he'd exited the tent with a:

"See you soon, Kakuzu-chan~"

With simple glares, snarky grins, and perfect pale skin he had inched his way deep into Kakuzu's chest. Each yowl, each uproar, each curse chipped the stony casings surrounding his four hearts. 

The doctor placed a breathing mask over his parted lips. The light started to fade, but he saw his slicked-back hair and toothy leer hovering overhead: a final vision before it was to be stripped away. 

Kakuzu's eyes shut tight to withhold all that was working on exploding through his seams, but despite his efforts, a single tear squeezed its way through. It was real. For once, it was real. The vision's lips moved to tell him something, but it already faded to nothing.

**X**

"Kakuzu-chan~"

He glanced up after slipping his shirt back over his torso.

"I'm hungry, let's go already."

Provided with only a crabby silence in response, Hidan's pestering grew more constant as they traveled away from the medical tent. Kakuzu elbowed him just when he got too close.

Hidan let out a chortle of amusement at finally receiving a response to his childish actions. Amid his chest-puffing guffaws, he made a sound to clear his throat. The sensation of something stiff made him shudder and lean forward. He cupped a hand to his mouth and coughed, successfully dislodging it from the back of his mouth. When he held it up to view it, he perked a grey eyebrow. In his palm lay a single long red petal.


End file.
